Hobbies And Interests
Burning Down the House
If you have an assortment of fire trucks and rescue vehicles in your Matchbox collection, consider using an assortment of paint chips to create a burning building display or even a replica firehouse. Use paint chips in colors such as brown, red brick and tan as the base of the building. Cut out flames from red, yellow and orange chips. To further enhance your shrine, use green chips for trees, black for fire station numbers, and even neutral, yellow and black chips to make paper firefighters positioned around the "scene."
Hospital and Helping
Taking the rescue concept a bit further, if you have a collection of ambulances, consider making a shrine or two devoted to emergency medical personnel. Use paint chips to make ambulance bays. Accentuate the design with a red, white and blue American flag that hovers over the building, and use various neutral, blue and black shades to make ambulance drivers and EMT's. If you have extra supplies and time on your hands, construct a hospital setting using the same colors as the ambulance bay. Add extra items such as cut outs of gurneys, doctors, nurses, IV drip bags and even medical equipment if you are overtly artistic.
Drag Strip
A Matchbox car collection with even just a few drag racing cars can be displayed on a handmade drag strip. Make sure to use strips of white or yellow to create lanes, and use light brown shades to create the sidewalls. Use gray shades for the racing strip. Opt for white and silver shades to make the bleachers and seating areas. Make sure to add the red, yellow and green light strip that tells cars when its time to drag. Cutting out some reds, oranges and yellows to make flames that the cars can sit on while in the shrine will help bring the look together.
Race Track
Many Matchbox cars are traditional forms of racing vehicles. From Indy-style cars to stock cars, all run on oval tracks. Recreate your favorite racetrack, such as the Indianapolis Speedway, Dover Downs or even the Pocono Raceway. Use gray and black paint chips to construct the oval track. Use white chips to build up bleachers. Make your shrine even more realistic by cutting out concession stands, bathrooms and even television camera crews. You could add pit crew stations, gas pumps and even clothing vendors if you have enough paint chips in an assortment of colors.